Fourteen militants allegedly involved in an attack on a French oil tanker, including a man sought by the United States, refused to enter pleas Saturday as their trial began under tight security.
| "Ya got nuttin' on us, coppers! Nuttin'!" |
The 14, some of whom are believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, said they had not had a chance to hire lawyers and would only offer pleas in the presence of a defense team. Key among the defendants is Fawaz al-Rabeiee, a Yemeni sought by the FBI. A 15th suspect was being tried in absentia. The court heard the prosecutor's list of charges that included the planning and carrying out of the Oct. 6, 2002, suicide attack on the Limburg tanker. The attack killed one Bulgarian crew member and caused 90,000 barrels of oil to spill into the Gulf of Aden. The group was also charged with carrying out the November 2002 attack on a helicopter carrying employees of the U.S. oil company Hunt Corp., the attempted assassination of U.S. ambassador Edmund Hull and the killing of a Yemeni security officer. The prosecution blamed the attacks on the Limburg and the American helicopter on al-Qaida. The defendants cried "Allah Akbar," or Holy Shit! God is great, upon hearing the prosecutor's charges.
| Wonder if they did the Wave. |
Although refusing to plead, one of the men, Mohammed Saeed al-Amari, told the judge that there was "just talk" between him and others about a possible attack on Hull in retaliation for the CIA-operated assassination of Sinan al-Harethi, al-Qaida's chief agent in Yemen, in November 2002.
| "We was jus' joshing with 'em!" |
Another defendant, Qassim al-Rimi, acknowledged that he was assigned to monitor the U.S. embassy in San'a. The defendants, who were dressed in blue prison uniforms and were handcuffed behind bars, complained of mistreatment and said they were locked underground at the intelligence headquarters.
| They were expecting penthouse accomodations? |
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